“We knew their defense had really good corners and safeties. We picked on their outside linebackers, and found mismatches.”

Springville quarterback Dylan Slavens

SPRINGVILLE — Springville quarterback Dylan Slavens put on a passing clinic Friday night, throwing for four touchdowns on the night, leading his team to a 27-14 win over Stansbury.

"We knew their defense had really good corners and safeties," Slavens said. "We picked on their outside linebackers, and found mismatches."

Scoring didn't come easy for either team in the first quarter as each team made key mistakes.

Stansbury's Conner Littlefield blocked a punt at the Springville 10, but Stansbury fumbled on the next play, giving the ball right back to the Red Devils.

Stansbury got the ball down to the one yard line, fumbling once again, giving the ball to Springville on the 20 yard line after a touchback.

Early in the second quarter, Hudson Conrad took advantage of one of Slavens' few mistakes. Hudson Conrad picked off the Red Devils quarterback, giving the Stallions the ball, helping set up their first score of the night.

Stansbury's quarterback Gage Manzione, playing in place of the injured Chase Christiansen, and threw a laser down the sidelines to Austen Kincaid for the 32-yard TD, giving Stansbury the 7-0 lead with 1:03 left in the first half.

Springville answered on the ensuing drive, tying the game at 7-7 just before the half.

Slavens took the Red Devils down the field, and capped the drive off with a 26-yard TD pass to Justin Ollerton with just :23 left in the half.

Conrad took the kick, broke a tackle, cut back, broke a few more tackles, found a seam, and raced all the way down to the Springville 21-yard line with just :02 left in the half to set up a 39 yard field goal for Stansbury kicker, Jordan Shields.

Shields pushed it just right of the cross bar however, and the game remained tied 7-7 at the intermission.

Stansbury was forced to punt on their opening drive of the seond half, but Shields dropped the snap, giving the ball to Springville on the seven.

Slavens found Willy D Child for his second touchdown of the night two plays later, and the Red Devils took the lead, 14-7.

Stansbury was marching on the ensuing drive, but fumbled again when Manzione made a mistake on an option play. The Stallions fumbled five times on the night, losing four of them.

"Our defense stepped up huge today," Slavens said. "We were able to put a lot of pressure on their young quarterback. He's a great player."

Manzione was able to redeem himself on the other side of the ball after Stansbury forced a three and out. Manzione blocked the Springville punt, picked it up, and took it to the house for a touchdown, tying the game at 14 apiece.

Springville added another score on the ensuing drive when Slavens found Child yet again in the flats, and he did the rest, taking it 55 yards to the house, giving Springville the 21-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Slavens found Rhett Clark down the sideline for a 34-yard TD to put the Red Devils up 27-14, and Stansbury wasn't able to answer the rest of the game.

Stansbury drops to 1-2, and will open up Region play next week on the road against Uintah. Springville moves to 3-0, and will visit Spanish Fork next week.

CJ Pronk is a Deseret Digital Media intern and a Stansbury High School graduate. After serving an LDS Mission to the Dominican Republic, CJ will attend Southern Utah University. Follow CJ on Twitter @BigCeeJ3113.